History of Greenwich Park - Article Example

Greenwich Park Introduction: Any who has studied geography in school in any part of the world would have heard of the term GMT which stands for Greenwich Mean Time. Greenwich is a village through which the prime meridian of zero longitude line passes. In a sense, the Royal Observatory situated in Greenwich can be considered to be the time keeper of the world because all time zones are compared to GMT. Greenwich is also famous for another landmark namely the Greenwich Park where the Royal Observatory is housed. The park is officially a United Nations Heritage Site, which means it is a protected site that should not be damaged in any manner. It is notable that London is the proud host of the 2012 Olympics and two events, namely, the equestrian and cross country races are to be held in the park itself. This has naturally raised a controversy and objections against the events being held in the park are increasing day by day. The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and the public and other groups have conflicting opinions regarding this. The LOCOG maintains that the park will be left relatively undamaged and will be restored to its original condition as much as possible, while the public, environmental groups, residents of the village, visitors to the park and even certain sports bodies, raise the objection that irrevocable damage will be done to the part if those events are held there. This paper is a review of the park in its existing glory and the impact that the Olympic events will have on the park. In the process, published literature on the issue will be reviewed and a survey conducted among the students who enjoy facilities of the park. The views of the LOCOG will also be taken into consideration for understanding their standpoint. The final section will be an opinion regarding the costs, impacts and benefits, if any, that will accrue if the events are held in Greenwich Park. The history of the park, the facilities available, and other relevant information regarding the park will also be reviewed here. History of Greenwich Park: The site on which the park is located has been inhabited right from the Roman periods and some remnants bearing testimony to this have been excavated from this site by archaeologists over a period of time. The land on which the park is situated was inherited by the then Duke of Gloucester, Humphrey in 1427. He enclosed the area with a fence and also built an observatory tower. After his death, his sister-in-law (wife of Henry VI) seized the land for herself. "Greenwich Park was popular with the Tudors. King Henry VII rebuilt the manor house to make the Palace of Placentia - or Greenwich Palace." (Greenwich Park - The Royal Gateway. 2009). Henry the VIII of England introduced deer on to this beautiful hillock overlooking the Thames River in 1515. Henry and also his two daughters were born in Greenwich Village which bore the name of Placentia at that time. Trees and flowering plants were planted in French Landscape Design during the 1600s and some of those trees still stand today. Queen Anne had a house built in the park which is now called Queen's House. The iconic landmark of the park, namely the Royal Observatory was built under the orders of Charles II who was an avid lover of astronomy and science. It was built under the aegis of the Royal Society and was named Flamsteed House to honour England's first Royal astronomer. The building stands on the Greenwich or Prime Meridian which technically divides the earth into east and west. The park suffered some damage during the World War II, but was subsequently restored to its original glory. The whole of Greenwich along with Greenwich Park is now a World Heritage Site as designated by the United Nations. The size of this Royal Park is a little more than 180 acres. The place is an extremely popular spot with the locals, tourists, and students as it offers many facilities for sport, enjoyment, and leisure. Facilities at the park at present: The word present is used here since it is not very clear as to what will change (temporarily or permanently) after the conduct of the equestrian and cross country events. Greenwich is the oldest of eight Royal Parks in the country and has something for everyone to enjoy and experience. The most historic building on the park is the Royal Observatory. Apart from this the place has areas just to laze away the time, gardens, sport facilities, cafeterias and restaurants puppet shows and other entertainment specially aimed at children, a bandstand where live music is played besides the conducting of workshops on various topics during holidays. There are many varieties of trees, a few of them still standing since the time of Henry the VIII Vehicular traffic inside the Park is allowed but is restricted to certain fixed timings only. Cycling tracks are also available. The Park authorities have taken the trouble to provide special facilities to the disabled also. Ramps, wide doors that can be pushed open (and not just pulled open), bright lights, small and medium sized steps, gentle gradients, special toilet facilities, designated parking areas etc are some of them. There are rose and other gardens that can be enjoyed by gardening enthusiasts. There are facilities for playing several types of sports as well. The general open spaces can be used to play a variety of family and fun games like Frisbee. An area marked as Rangers' Field is used to play cricket in summer and is used as two rugby pitches during other seasons. It also has toilet and changing facilities for players. Cycling, jogging, walking etc can extensively be done inside the park. Six tennis courts are also available for tennis lovers. The equestrian and cross country event will transgress into many of the areas mentioned above. Moreover a spectator stand that can accommodate around 23,000 persons will also be built. Even though temporary, it can damage the area on which it stands. Temporary facilities for the riders, runners, horses, coaches, and other officials are also being planned. Critics of the plan say that trees will have to be cut or pruned and gardens damaged since the course for both the events will pass through the area in which they are planted. This topic will be reviewed in more detail under the literature review and surveys sections. Even the Olympic Committee admits that some damage may occur permanently. This is obvious from their statements which say the efforts will be made to minimize the damage and impact of the games on the park. It is also estimated that the whole park or parts of it would have to be closed to the public prior to the events while construction or related activities are conducted in the park. Some experts say that the closure may extend to a couple of months. It is to be noted that if such a thing happens, it will be the longest period of closure since the last two hundred years of the Park's existence. According to the Telegraph Newspaper, the venue is now designated as temporary. But it also adds that the site is under study by KPMG, and feels that the venue will finally be selected and that the authorities will not bow to the pressure from the individuals and groups who oppose it. Review of published literature on the topic: The committee of 2012 Olympics has decided to conduct two Olympic events in Greenwich Park. The two events that would be conducted in the Greenwich Park are Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon. Greenwich Park, as mentioned earlier, is a world famous tourist place and the people of Greenwich are treating this park as a heritage. In this part of the paper arguments for and against the conduct of the events are discussed. The graphical view of Greenwich Park is given below with the proposed equestrian track in green color added with the paper as an appendix. It can be seen that the track effectively covers the entire area of the park. Arguments In Support of the Conduct of the events: As stated above the two events that would be conducted in Greenwich Park is Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon. The Olympic committee had selected the Greenwich Park as the venue for the two events because it is very near to the main venue which is the Olympic park. Officials and participants are required to travel from one venue to the other many times. As the Greenwich Park is near to the Olympic park it is easy to commute between both ventures. Another argument in support of the conduct of the event is that it is ideally suited for the conduct of the events like equestrian and pentathlon. Authorities in the field also state that the venue is large enough to accommodate the horses and the athletes. Conducting the Olympics in any city is a prestigious event and it will generate a lot of publicity. It is ideal that sport like equestrian is conducted in a world famous site. There is something special about horses and athletes running along and across the Greenwich Meridian. It will also be something new and exciting for the participants also. Equestrian is considered to be a royal item of Olympics and a Royal Park like Greenwich is the most ideal place to conduct it. The Olympic committee is planning to adopt the methods that were used in Beijing Olympics of 2008 for the conduct of these events. The thing that makes the 2012 Olympic committee confident is that it took only five days for the Chinese authorities to get that venue back in shape. The venue was one of the most popular golf courses in Beijing. The people of the locality can enjoy lots of advantages out of the use of park for the event. They too can become part in the world history with the successful conduct of the event. Everyone might have heard of Greenwich line and Greenwich Park, but might not have seen it even in Media. It is an opportunity to the people of the world to enjoy the beauty of this particular place directly or through visual Media. Moreover, tourism in the area will bet a big boost. Arguments against the conduct of the events: The conduct of the event in the park will cause serious damage to the park, and after the event, bringing the park to the previous position with its glory would be a difficult task for the authorities. As the horses race and jump (which is together called as Equestrian) there remains a chance of causing damages to the grass, other flora and the historic monuments inside the park. There is also a chance of restrictions on traffic which sometimes may result in temporary closure of roads around the park which ultimately affects the day-to-day transportation of locals around the park. As the preliminary works of the event has to be started so many months before its conduct, visitors feel that access to the park may be entirely blocked during this period. For the event, people from all over the world may be coming. They may not be much bothered about the heritage of park, and leave wastages inside the park itself and cause intentional or unintentional damage inside the park. Some people who are against the conduct of the event argue that, the Greenwich Park is a very small place for hosting such major events. Given the area that is needed for the equestrian even, the park is bound to suffer extensive damage even though most of them are reversible or repaired. It is only if historic building like the Observatory or other ruins unearthed from the Roman and later periods are damaged that the problem becomes permanent and irreversible. There will be a large influx of people and the security available may not be able to fully manage the miscreant elements among them. They could intentionally damage those treasured buildings. Horse hooves can cause a lot of damage to the soil. For this reason a special type of hard and sturdy grass has to be planted on the track. This problem can be reversed but it will take a long time to regain the original status. The general opinion is that damage will be there for sure, but chances are that it will be minimal and in most cases, reversible. As for the cost of infrastructure and track, it is estimated that an amount of around 20 million pounds will have to be spent. One has also to consider the cost of restoration and repair. Both these costs will be borne by the Olympic Committee. There is no chance that they will back out of the restoration/repair costs. They will definitely stick to their promise. Survey of undergraduate students of Greenwich Village: In order to understand the view of the students who frequent the park at all times, a survey was conducted over a period of seven days. The survey was a simple and informal one, based on a questionnaire. This questionnaire is given as an appendix to this paper. It contains twelve questions ranging from ones to find out basic demographic data to finding their opinions on the issue. The sample for the survey which was fixed as fifty students was selected using simple stratified sampling. The term stratified was used since elimination was done to find only undergraduate students. The venue of the sampling was in the Park itself. The interviewer, who is also the author of this paper, would approach individuals and groups who appeared to be students. They would be asked if they are studying at the undergraduate level. In case they were not students or were not at the undergraduate level, the interviewer would move on after thanking them for their time. In case the answer was in the affirmative, they would be asked whether they are interested in taking part in the survey regarding the Park and the Olympic games. If they reply in the negative, they would be thanked and efforts to find another suitable and willing interview would be done. Most of the candidates were more than willing (and even excited) to become an interviewee. Fifty respondents were identified, with the interviewer meeting a total of just seventy five students. There were 28 boys and 22 girls in the survey group. In other words, nearly 65% of the students were willing to take part in the study. It should be noted that only the undergraduates studying in colleges in and around Greenwich were selected. Most of the people were satisfied at this criteria and only a few were visitors from other areas were included. Another problem that had to be corrected prior to and during the survey was that not all students were aware that the Olympic events were being planned to be held in the park. It was found that 10 Students were ignorant about information. Among the rest of those who knew of the matter only twenty were actually aware of the amount of work needed to be done inside the park to make it fit as a venue for both the events. In other words, they did not know that the landscape needed to be changed, trees may have to be cut, and plants removed in order to make the tracks. Both these problems were clearly explained to them during the interview. Questions about the potential damaged were developed with the help of information gained from the literature review. Survey results: All questions were answered by all the respondents by giving the appropriate answers and opinions. As expected, the answer as to whether they were undergraduate students were answered in the affirmative by all the respondents. Q.2. Do you frequent the Greenwich Park often' Response Number Percentage Yes 30 60 No 20 40 TOTAL 50 100 Q.3. On an average, how many occasions do you visit the park every week' (Respondents need not take into account vacations and the coldest winter months when answering the question). Response Number Percentage Once or less 10 20 One to three times 28 56 Three times to every day 12 24 TOTAL 50 100 Q.4. How many hours do you spend on an average on each visit' Response Number Percentage < 2 hours 10 20 2 to 5 hours 30 60 >5 hours 10 20 TOTAL 50 100 Q.5. What are the different types of activities that you engage in on a normal visit' Response Number Percentage Lazing/talking 22 44 Sports 18 36 Eating 3 6 Observatory 1 2 Any other activity 6 12 TOTAL Q.6. Are you aware the Olympic Committee for the 2012 Olympic is planning to hold an equestrian and cross country events inside the park' Response Number Percentage Yes 40 80 No 10 20 TOTAL 50 100 Q.7. What type of changes do you think will be have to be done on the landscape (trees, land, plants and buildings) to prepare the venue for hosting these events' Response Number Percentage Landscape 16 32 Buildings 9 18 Cut trees/remove plants 13 26 All of the above 2 4 Not sure 10 20 TOTAL 50 100 Q.8. Do you think that it will permanently damage the Park's current atmosphere (includes landscape, flora and fauna, the overall look etc)' Response Number Percentage Yes 11 22 No 39 78 TOTAL 50 100 Q.9. If the damage is extensive, will you still support the Olympic Committee's decision given the undertaking that they will restore the Park to its former glory (as much as possible)' Response Number Percentage Yes 11 22 No 39 78 TOTAL 50 100 Q.10. If the damage is minimal will you still support the Olympic Committee's decision given the undertaking that they will restore the Park to its former glory (as much as possible)' Response Number Percentage Yes 41 82 No 9 18 TOTAL 50 100 Q.11. In either case, does the advantages of holding the event outweigh the disadvantages or other consequences' Response Number Percentage Yes 37 74 No 13 26 TOTAL 50 100 Q.12. Considering the fact that conducting an Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity, should the damage (if minimal) be ignored as a sacrifice towards making the games a huge success' Response Number Percentage Yes 40 80 No 10 20 TOTAL 50 100 Analysis of results: Frequency varied among the students though a majority can be considered to be fairly frequent with a 56% frequenting the park up to three times a week and 24% visiting the park more often. Only 20% can be considered to be infrequent visitors. Hence the sample can be considered to be quite familiar with the park. 60% of the students spend between two and five hours on each visit. Ten percent spent more than five hours on each visit and the same number spent less than two hours on each visit. 44% spent their time in order to relax by talking or just lazing around while 36% visited to take part in sports activities. Visits to take part in other activities were very low. Only one student came to the park to visit the Observatory. As mentioned earlier ten respondents (20%) were not aware that two Olympic events are proposed to be conducted in the park. It can be assumed that these are the infrequent visitors because the general talk inside the park would have informed a more frequent visitor about this. It is also possible that they got this information from other sources. As to the type of changes that may take place, opinions were quite varied. 32% and 26% responded that it would affect the landscape and the building respectively. This can be considered to be an accurate observation. Eighteen percent said that it involves buildings. Review of literature reveals that probably all of the above will take place, but only 4% had this opinion among the respondents. Twenty percent did not have an idea as to what the changes will be. 78% of respondents felt that the changes will not permanently damage any of the above mentioned features of the park. They felt that cutting a few trees and plants did not amount to permanent damage. It can be replaced by planting new ones. Moreover, the trees that survived from the early ages were bound to die anyway. Again 78% felt that if the damage is extensive, they will not support the move to conduct the events inside the park. 82% said that they will support the move on condition that the damage will be minimal and also that the park will be restored, as much as possible, to its original state. They also felt that the Olympics games are an important event as it has its advantages that can outweigh the disadvantages or consequences of holding the event in the park. Eighty percent of the respondents agreed with this view when they were made to think of the importance of the event. Conclusion: Even though residents, environmental groups, sports bodies etc argue against conducting the events inside the park, most of them agree that heavy or extensive damage that cannot be restored will happen. The most they say is that trees and plants may have to be cut. Their indignation is that some of the old surviving trees from the time of Henry the VIII may also have to be removed. Only such trees are not replaceable while all the other cutting and pruning can be restored or replanted. These trees will anyway die a natural death sometime in the future. But extreme care should be taken to preserve the historical buildings like the Royal Observatory inside the park. The undergraduate students when informed of the facts of the case were also of the opinion that if the damage is not extensive or is correctable, there is no harm in the conduct of the events inside the park. The conclusion that can be made here is the same. If it can be assured that any damage or change is restored at the expense of the Olympic Committee, it will only be beneficial to the residents of Greenwich, the UK and the spirit of the Olympic Games as well. APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE and LAYOUT MAP SHOWING EQUESTRIAN TRACK QUESTIONNAIRE Thank you for your cooperation by willing to take part in the survey. Q.1. You are at present an undergraduate student' Q.2. Do you frequent the Greenwich Park often' Q.3. On an average, how many times do you visit the park every week' (Respondents need not take into account vacations and the coldest winter months when answering the question). Q.4. How many hours do you spend on an average on each visit' Q.5. What are the different types of activities that you engage in on a normal visit' Q.6. Are you aware the Olympic Committee for the 2012 Olympic is planning to hold an equestrian and cross country event inside the park' Q.7. What type of changes do you think will be have to be done on the landscape (trees, land, plants and buildings) to make the venue ready to host the event' Q.8. Do you think that it will permanently damage the Park's current atmosphere (includes landscape, flora and fauna, the overall look etc)' Q.9. If the damage is extensive; will you still support the Olympic Committee's decision given the undertaking that they will restore the Park to its former glory (as much as possible)' Q.10. Of the damage is minimal will you still support the Olympic Committee's decision given the undertaking that they will restore the Park to its former glory (as much as possible)' Q.11. In either case, does the advantage of holding the event outweigh the disadvantage or other consequences' Q.12. Considering the fact that conducting an Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity, should the damage (minimal or extensive) be ignored as a sacrifice towards making the games a huge success' LAYOUT MAP SHOWING EQUESTRIAN TRACK (The green line is the planned equestrian route and track). (Greenwich Park: A World-Class Venue on your Doorstep. 2008). Bibliography Greenwich Park - The Royal Gateway. (2009). [online]. The Royal Parks: London's Personal Space. Last accessed 15 January 2009 at: http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/greenwich_park/landscape_history.cfm Greenwich Park: A World-Class Venue on your Doorstep. (2008). [online]. London 2012, Greenwich Park Venue Update. Last accessed 15 January 2009 at: http://www.london2012.com/documents/locog-publications/greenwich-park.pdf Read More